Employers in Washington reported 8 WARN Act notices in September 2014, displacing an estimated 1,287 workers — signaling an acceleration from August and up 99% versus September 2013. The average filing covered 161 workers, with 2 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 148 |
| Manufacturing | 1 | 73 |
| Information & Technology | 1 | 64 |
The Finance & Insurance sector topped the list of affected industries with 148 workers across 1 notice. Notably, Manufacturing reported 73 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| King | 6 | 1,213 |
| Skagit | 1 | 73 |
King saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 94% of all affected workers with 1,213 workers across 6 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Redmond | 1 | 747 |
| Kirkland | 2 | 212 |
| Bellevue | 1 | 141 |
| Burlington | 1 | 73 |
| Seattle | 1 | 63 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 6 | 1,073 |
| Closure | 2 | 214 |
Closures accounted for 17% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Redmond | 747 | Layoff | 2014-09-18 |
| Cobalt Mortgage | Kirkland | 148 | Layoff | 2014-09-18 |
| JCPenney | Bellevue | 141 | Closure | 2014-09-03 |
| Niagara Bottling | Burlington | 73 | Closure | 2014-09-05 |
| Macro Technologies | Kirkland | 64 | Layoff | 2014-09-18 |
| Novo Nordisk | Seattle | 63 | Layoff | 2014-09-04 |
| Staples | Auburn | 50 | Layoff | 2014-09-17 |
| Hightail | Not Provided | 1 | Layoff | 2014-09-18 |
The most significant filing came from Microsoft at its Redmond facility, reporting 747 affected workers. Cobalt Mortgage followed with 148 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The numbers illustrate mounting pressure on the Washington labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Finance & Insurance sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Washington. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers with 100+ employees to provide 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs and plant closings. Data is updated daily by WARN Firehose. View all Washington WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
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